This will be the last one. Promise.

It has to be, because tonight, one city team’s boys basketball season will end. That means no more games, and, of course, no more city showdowns.

Two regular-season games between Lawrence and Free State high schools — Dec. 19 at Free State, Feb. 7 at Lawrence — were scheduled. By stroke of luck, the two teams met in the fifth-place game of the Topeka Invitational Tournament, despite being in opposite sides of the bracket.

And now, they meet one last time, this time again at Free State — and again, by chance — in the first round of the Class 6A sub-state tournament. Tipoff is 7 p.m., and a live radio broadcast will be on KLWN-AM (1320). A tape-delayed telecast will air at 10:30 tonight on Sunflower Broadband Channel 6.

Free State leads the season series 2-1, but Lawrence High won the last showdown, 77-69.

The fourth time around, a lingering question burns: Does it ever get old?

“Nope,” LHS senior Joe Crane said. “It’s still war out there. You still get hyped up inside seeing the crowd and everything. It’s still fun.”

Free State (14-6) has seen the most success this year, but Lawrence High (5-15) has made just as many headlines. The Lions have broken three state records over the course of the season: most three-pointers in a game (21), most three-point attempts in a game (59) and most three-point attempts in a season (726). With 210 threes made this season, LHS also is just two three-pointers away from breaking the state mark for threes in a season, set by Holcomb in 1992.

Lawrence’s most prolific bombers include Crane (48 threes this season), junior David Freeman (37) and junior Brennan Bechard (35).

6News video: Lions and Firebirds to meet in postseason

The Lions’ unique run-and-gun style has caused fits for opposing coaches, and Free State’s Jack Schreiner is no exception.

“I’m going to honestly say this,” Schreiner said. “During the year, we really didn’t prepare for anybody. We said we have to do what we have to do — except Lawrence High. It’s so unique, and it’s so different, you have to prepare for it.”

Free State packs a similar — though less extensive — outside punch. Senior Tyler Blankenship has shot 43 percent (34-of-80) from beyond the arc and has made at least one three in all 20 of Free State’s games this season. Seniors Cole Douglas and Adam Bellinder and juniors Brady Morningstar and Bobby Underwood are also outside threats.

But three-point shooting isn’t what earned the Firebirds a No. 2 seed in the eight-team Olathe South sub-state pod. It has been a unique team makeup that has included Blankenship on the outside, Morningstar and Douglas both outside and in, and senior Dain Dillingham providing the slashing abilities and the heart that makes the Firebirds go.

Dillingham missed six games because of illness in February, but since his return, the Firebirds haven’t lost.

“(Dillingham) takes the pressure off our kids,” Schreiner said. “They don’t feel like they have to do everything. It’s immense.”

Tonight’s winner will advance to Olathe South and play the winner of tonight’s Overland Park Aquinas-Topeka High matchup.

As for the losers? They will call it a season and turn in their jerseys Thursday.

“These games are what these kids live for,” LHS coach Chris Davis said. “Both teams will be ready to play. It should be one heck of a basketball game.”